This course will introduce you to the major concepts of and debates
surrounding industrial and organizational psychology. Industrial and
organizational psychology is the application of psychological research
and theory to human interaction (both with other humans and with human
factors, or machines and computers) in the workplace. The phrase
“industrial and organizational psychology” (sometimes referred to as
“I/O”) may be somewhat misleading, as the field deals less with actual
organizations and/or industries and more with the people in these areas.
As mentioned above, “I/O” is an applied psychological science, which
means that it takes research findings and theories that may have
originally been used to explain a general phenomenon of human behavior
and applies them to human behavior in a specific setting (here, the
workplace). Consider, for example, the fact that many jobs require
applicants to take a personality test. Psychologists originally
developed this test to detect and diagnose abnormal personalities; they
are now frequently used to determine whether a given applicant will be a
good “fit” for a position or the dynamic of a company’s staff. In this
case, we are applying traditional psychology research to the workplace.
Or consider the traditional job interview. Everything from the
interaction between interviewer and interviewee to the nature of the Q&A
can be examined from a psychological standpoint. While these quick
examples pertain to only one area of human workplace interaction (the
employee selection area), there are a number of additional areas that we
will learn about in this course. We will begin by taking a look at how
we evaluate jobs and candidates for jobs (employees) before exploring
how we evaluate and motivate employees, noting what encourages versus
discourages employee job commitment. We will then study leadership and
group influences in the workplace and conclude with units on working
conditions and humans factors. In addition, performance management and
work teams will be discussed. Leadership interaction and the leadership
theories are also covered. Note: Because this is an applied
psychological science, you should have a strong background in theory and
have taken an Introduction to Psychology course prior to taking this
course.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able
to:

Requirements for Completion: In order to complete this course, you
will need to work through each unit and all of its assigned materials.
Pay special attention to Units 1 and 2, as these lay the groundwork for
understanding the more advanced, exploratory material presented in the
latter units. You will also need to complete:

Unit 1 Quiz

Unit 2 Quiz

Unit 3 Quiz

Unit 4 Quizzes

Unit 5 Quiz

Unit 6 Quiz

Unit 7 Quizzes

Unit 8 Quiz

Problem Sets for Each Unit

The Final Exam

Note that you will only receive an official grade on your final exam.
However, in order to adequately prepare for this exam, you will need to
work through the quizzes listed above.

In order to “pass” this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on
the Final Exam. Your score on the exam will be tabulated as soon as you
complete it. If you do not pass the exam, you may take it again.

Time Commitment: This course should take you a total of 100
hours to complete. Each unit includes a “time advisory” that lists the
amount of time you are expected to spend on each subunit. These should
help you plan your time accordingly. It may be useful to take a look at
these time advisories and to determine how much time you have over the
next few weeks to complete each unit, and then to set goals for
yourself. For example, Unit 1 should take you 10 hours. Perhaps you can
sit down with your calendar and decide to complete subunits 1.1 (a total
of 2 hours) on Monday night; subunit 1.2 (a total of 3 hours) on Tuesday
night; etc.

Tips/Suggestions: As you are going through the units, it is helpful
to make notes for each unit whether it was a reading or presentation.
Later, you can make note cards to study from your notes. In addition,
reading your notes into a recorder and then playing them back will also
enhance learning. We know in psychology that in order to have material
learned it must be read, spoken, written, and/or heard seven to nine
times. The problem sets provided will give you “hands on” experience
with developing and creating many usable work products and documents
from each unit. Good luck!

Table of Contents: You can find the course's units at the links below.